Off by a Degree
by Valahex-Mercury
Summary: Tenichi and Haru, the most mixed-&-matched pair in all of Shibusen. When a time comes where the placid must combine with the rowdy to save the world itself, will Tenichi and Haru-along with good friends-find their true roots and save the earth?
1. Off Prologue

Off by a Degree

Prologue—Tenichi/Haru Pair

--

The sky was dark, and the Shibusen moon was grinning down on its people, blood dripping down its teeth, its black rimmed beady eyes making it seem all the eerier. I was holding my rapier Haru by my side, strolling calmly through the streets. There were no missions for me to accept, so I decided to walk around, feeling the moon grin on me, casting a long dark shadow that trailed behind me, following me, taunting me by never letting me go, reminding me of a sort of dark hidden side. It was mysterious; it was beautiful. Hoshi growled, whipping me in the head with the blunt end of the sword.

"Can I turn back into my human form yet?! I'm cramped in here and we're not talking and you're quiet and—"

"Ssshh, Haru. Listen closely." I said, placing my finger to my lips.

My brown hair wafted in the wind as I felt a soul coming from behind. It was cloaked weakly, and Haru was throbbing, ready to cut into its flesh and devour its soul from the inside out. The coattails of my dress-jacket fanned out behind me as a large gust of wind hit me. The dark forest green brought out my eyes of the same color. A white rose was nestled behind my hair to match the color of the buttons on my dress-jacket. I brought Haru parallel to my face as the kishin appeared in front of us, grinning from ear to ear. Blood was running from its eye sockets, and it looked ready to kill. Spikes ran down its spine, and its claws were very long. I felt Haru lunge, ready to fight.

"Haru, are you ready?"

"Ugh, of course." He sucked his teeth and pulled me towards the kishin. "C'mon, let's get chop-chop-chopping!"

The kishin licked its lips, grinning. "My name is Jeehath, and I have come to gather souls. I am quite hungry, and you seem delicious…" Jeehath lunged, catching me off guard.

I dodged, falling to the ground. I stood back up hurriedly, Haru scolding me. His brown spiky hair floated over one of his crimson eyes. "Yo, watch it, Iilayh!"

"Trying!"

The kishin was strong; a roamer of the streets but very formidable indeed. I crouched on my right leg, pushing myself forward with my left, whipping Haru out and pointing him forward. Jeehath tilted to the right as I flew past him. I quickly turned back in midair and swung Haru hard, Jeehath disappearing in a funnel of black smoke, leaving a black and red soul egg behind. Haru's head popped out of the sword as he ingested it with vigor, turning back into his human state. Haru was tall, around 6 feet, wearing a red shirt with a black star in the center, all tied together with dark jeans with a six inch chain hanging from the belt loop to the left pocket. A black pair of sneakers tied it all together. Haru rubbed the back of his neck, looking at me. There were line with a small line running across the bottom below his eyes.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Well, that was unexpected. I say we go home before we find any others."

"I agree. Dinner probably got super cold by now. I'm starving…"

All of a sudden, Haru and I heard clapping from the shadows. I froze in my steps, ending gracefully at the crest of the staircase. Haru froze rigidly, stumbling over his left foot and falling down the stairs. I winced as each thud from the painful descent down echoed along with Haru's painful protests. I turned and saw Shinigami's son, Death the Kid, with his weapons Liz and Patty beside him. He was clapping; such the cocky one.

"Nice job out there. He was actually my mission." Haru walked up the steps, muttering: "Mother-fucker…that hurt."

"Watch your mouth!" I said, having a shocked look on my face. Haru wagged his finger.

"You don't look cute when you're shocked."

"Then stop making me shocked; your language is appalling."

"I learned it from the one and only."

"Mother—" I drove my boot into Haru's foot as his face went pale, his teeth gritted together tightly. Then I released him. Haru grabbed his foot and hopped up and down, once again falling down the steps. "Sorry I took your mission, Kid."

"Kusottare, Tenichi…" Haru said, walking up the stairs. I smirked at him.

"You shouldn't act like that in front of Shinigami's son, Haru. That's so disrespectful!"

"Your face is disrespectful. Shinigami don't like ugly." Haru mumbled.

"I'll deal with you later!" I said sharply, turning and pointing my finger at him.

"Nyah nyah nyah nyah blaaaah." Haru mocked.

Kid stared at us with a bored expression, and Haru and I finally stopped arguing. Haru seemed to have a glare-off with Liz and Patty, and I simply stared at Kid. A sniffle from Patty broke the uneven, eerie silence that had fallen over us. Haru seemed to go off on Kid.

"WELL YOU ALWAYS TAKE ALL THE GOOD MISSIONS, YOU LITTLE OCD PRONE MOTHER FU—" I covered Haru's mouth quickly.

"Eh…it doesn't matter now. I'll take another mission tomorrow."

"…I'm sorry, Kid." I muttered, holding my head down.

"No problem." Kid examined me as his eyes went wide. I blushed since he was looking into my eyes. Then he walked up to me and turned my rose a mere degree to the right. Then he looked over me again. And adjusted it again. This happened two, three, four times before he got it just right. "There; perfect. Although the rose will never be symmetrical…hmmm, maybe I can take a few petals off and—"

"Ah; no!" I said, taking my rose out of my hair and tucking it in the breast pocket of my dress-jacket. "There solves that problem…"

"You go to Shibusen, right?" Kid asked after a short silence.

"We start our first day tomorrow!" Haru said excitedly. "You know, why is everything so black out here? Come to think if I, I barely go outside!"

Liz got an annoyed look on her face when Haru finished. He just blushed and grinned, waving dismissively. "Hi, Liz!"

"Well, see you two bright and early tomorrow." Kid started to walk back into the shadows when he turned and said: "Fix that lop-sidedness near your right. It bothers me."

Kid, Liz, and Patty walked away into the shadows as Haru stood there, his jaw hanging to the ground. He stomped angrily, thrusting his chin up into the sky. Then he whipped his head to me, outstretching his arms in surprise.

"Are you just going to take that, Tenichi-chan?! He said you were _retarded, _obviously! Let's go kick his prissy little ass!"

I caught Hoshi by his collar. "No, Haru. Let's just go home."

"…Damn you, teenage depression!" Then Haru ran to catch up with me as the moon grinned a bit wider than before.


	2. Off 1

Off by a Degree

Chapter 1—Shibusen Starter

--

"Haru. Haru, wake up, eh? It's time for school, eh?"

"Okay, okay, all that 'eh' shit is going to drive me up a wall!"

"I knew it would."

Haru tossed himself out of bed, sending himself sprawling to the floor. I was already dressed, toying with my white rose in the mirror. I stood up straight, trying to register what Kid had said the night before. I didn't look lop-sided; I wasn't in the least bit crooked. Maybe a shadow had cast a look of a disturbed angle on my right side when Kid stared at me. I sighed, deciding that trying to find that error in me would be hopeless. For some reason, only Kid could see it. I hated that; when people saw whatever I couldn't. At that point, I usually felt…well…stupid. Or, in Haru's words, I felt utterly retarded.

Haru was up and dressed in a few minutes, yawning and picking his nose and digging in his ears. I grimaced, displeasured with having to live with such vulgar a partner. I had to admit though; I loved him with all of my being. He was like the brother I never had. The two of us went everywhere together, did everything together, even finished each other's sentences (which was hard on my end since Haru is completely random). Now we were going to school together, which was a first for the both of us. All we really had was each other, and if today went well, we would have many more friends. That would be amazing; amazingly good. Haru had…no friends. I had…one friend, and that was Professor Stein, but _only_ because my mother and he were mutual friends and lab partners.

As Shibusen grew nearer, I noticed that Haru and I were late. Hoorah, hoorah, call the press. It wouldn't be the first time we were late for something…

_**Flashback**_

_There Haru and I stood, staring at an empty spot in the middle of the moonlight splashed road. There was only a simple note on a thin slice of rice paper. The kanji was intricate, and Haru and I stared at it in awe; we were young back then. Haru picked up the letter and read it, smiling giddily._

"_You two are the worst Meister-Weapon pair. What kind of goofballs would be late to kill a soul that was surrendering himself? Oh, well, your loss and more work for you."_

_I sighed and pulled out the suicide letter the kishin—otherwise known as Jack-o-lan'—had written in preparation for his death. He wanted to be killed by people with enough honor and dignity to make up for his countless sins. I figured since we were only ten and twelve at the time, and we had no accountable serious sins, and we had just about all the honor and dignity we could have, even though at that time we didn't know what they were, so we were perfectly qualified for the job. But, we had been…_

"_Three hours late, Haru. See?" I held out the note._

"_It said midnight…Not…" Haru twitched and gripped his head tightly. "KUUUUUSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

Yep. Definitely not the first time we were ever late to something. School was the least of my troubles. Haru fitting in…Haru getting a multitude of fan girls…that was my problem. As we scaled the staircase to Shibusen, I saw two boys talking near the first pillar. One had spiky blue hair and green eyes, and I noticed him as belonging to the Star Clan from the tattoo on his shoulder. The other had white hair and crimson eyes and was slouched over with his hands in his pockets. The two turned to Haru and I, staring at us, almost looking through us. Haru got an irritated look on his face.

"What the hell are you guys lookin' at?" The blue haired boy and the white haired boy seemed to take Haru seriously, for they straightened their posture and glared at him.

"Hey, lookin' for a fight, tough guy?" The white haired boy asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Probably; what do you make of it?"

"Haru, stop it. It's our first day…"

"Pfft. So?" Haru pushed me out of the way, leaning in towards the white haired boy's face. "Now, listen here. While Tenichi and I are at this school, you'd better damn well treat us with respect, because Tenichi might take that push-around crap, but not me. I'll beat your punk face in, got it?"

The blue haired boy elbowed Haru in the stomach, making Haru fall back into me. I lifted Haru up as he snarled, tackling the white haired boy to the ground. The two got in a tussle which was all but foolish. All they were doing was rolling around cursing at each other, throwing a punch or two at one another. I sighed as the blue haired boy cheered the white haired boy on. I took my rose out of my hair just as a crowd was starting to form. I tossed my rose onto Haru's neck as he froze, his eyes going blank, white as the rose that I had just struck him with.

"Haru, calm yourself…" Haru peeled the rose slowly off of his neck, staring at me. He turned to the white haired boy, scowling. He waved the rose flippantly at his opponent.

"You'd better be lucky my meister just saved your life." Haru tucked the rose back into my hair and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Besides, I don't have much time to spend on you small fry anyway."

Girls were already mentally drooling over Haru; that I knew for sure. Haru walked into the school with his hands behind his head. He directed me in front of him as the girls suddenly got silent. My head was held high, higher than I had held it ever before. I had sort of a royal swagger, and the air got tense very quickly. I looked at the sliver of crowd ahead of me as they silently and hesitantly moved to let me through. I was probably giving off a bad vibe, because I was getting glared at by many, _many_ people, including the boy that Haru had just confronted. My attitude was tampered with from the inside, and my mind felt like it was tucked in a corner to weep. My first day wasn't going very well.

--Soul's POV—

Well, after that fight with the spiky haired wonder, I turned to Black Star, his glare becoming less intense after the girl and guy—who the girl had called Haru—vanished into the darkness of the hallways of Shibusen. Black star turned to me, balling his fists tightly.

"Who did that guy think he was?! I'M the star of Shibusen; the ONLY one surpassing God! And did you see his partner; how stuck up was she? Like she had a blessing on her shoulders already; I'M going to have the glory around here and not them; I'll be the biggest on high and praised for my immense strength and size!" Black star declared this all angrily, his eyes smoldering with an inner fire that had been lit by a gallon of oil. I leaned against the pillar, staring up at the sky.

"Well, I say we initiate a plan. Plan: Knock-Down-That-Cocky-Bastard-A-Notch."

"…that name is way too long, Soul."

"It doesn't matter about the name of the plan; as long as it's cool."

"Soul; Black Star!" That's when I saw Maka run up to us, along with Tsubaki, Liz, and Patty. I didn't see Kid, though. "Soul, what were you thinking; getting into a fight like that? They're new students; you shouldn't have done that!"

"Hey, they're the cocky bastards that ganged up on us first. Not my fault."

"Oh, Soul, what am I ever going to do with you?" Maka groaned.

"Come on, Black Star. We've got planning to do."

Black Star and I trotted off, eager to do away with Haru's cocky attitude. I didn't think his Meister was the same way, but if she was, it would be just as good to knock her down a couple of notches as well.

This was going to be fun.


	3. Off 2

Off by a Degree

Chapter 2—Day of Humiliation: Hoshi's Stagnant Anger!

**Italics are Soul's innermost thoughts in this chapter.**

--Soul's POV—

Here came Part 1 of Plan: Knock-Down-That-Cocky-Bastard-A-Notch. Black Star and I simply sat in wait at our desks as Maka and Tsubaki eyed Hoshi and his Meister at the front wearily. Black Star and I had placed Hoshi and his meister in the exact spot where Stein-Sensei would go flying out of his chair and sail through the air. Stein-sensei would sail into Hoshi who would then sail into the wall and be utterly humiliated.

_Genius._

On cue, Stein-sensei flew in backwards, getting his chair caught on the stairs of the platform, sailing into Hoshi's side. Hoshi was slammed onto the floor, blood coming from the crest of his head. He twitched, holding the top of his head and rolling around, muttering curses under his breath. Black Star and I laughed loudly, giving each other high fives. Black Star hit his desk with the palm of his hand, no doubt thinking about how small Hoshi would look after that embarrassing event.

But to our horror…

"I'm alright."

Hoshi got up—with no hint of a embarrassed blush on his pale face—and dusted himself off, patting the top of his head and then wrapping his arm around his meister's waist. The girl kept giggling at Hoshi's incident, and he just ignored it.

_Thick headed dick._

"Hey, everybody! I'm Haru Harufune, and this is—!"

"My name is Tenichi Tafune. I'm a rapier technician, and Haru Harufune is my weapon."

"Damn straight! Mess with me, Haru Harufune, and I'll kick your ass!"

Haru glared at Black Star and I, and I only know one thing:

_Parts B-E HAD to work._

**PART B!**

This was the chance Black Star had been waiting for; he wanted to be in the spotlight so bad?

Part B thrust Black Star and Haru right into it.

It all starts in the disciplinary room. Since Black Star had technically hit Haru first, I suggested that Haru file a complaint. So, of course, he did (_damn tattletale_), and now he and Black Star were sitting right in the office. The microphone was on, and we got to hear a very suggestive conversation…

"So, Haru, do you like your Meister?" Black Star asked.

"Uh…" Haru drawled, completely confused.

"Well, have some water."

I chuckled darkly, knowing Black Star had mixed laxative into the drink. Haru frowned and swirled the water around. Then he took it and got a mock teary look on his face (I was looking out of the spy hole in the door). Black Star looked confused.

"Dude…" Haru sniffled and held out the glass of water. "You're so nice to me…you deserve this water, not me. Take it; as a token of my friendship. I'm sorry I was such a dick to you before."

"Oh, wow, thanks!"

"BLACK STAR, DON'T!!"

Black Star had already ingested the drink, and his face went blue. He held his stomach, and he blared out to the whole entire school…

"GAAAAAAAAAAAH! I GOTTA SHIT!! KUUUSOOOOOO!"

I heard Haru's laughing over Black Star's yelling, and the door flung open and Black Star was leaving a trail of smoke down the hall to the latrines. I peered into the room and saw Haru turning off the intercom. He thought this was _so_ funny.

_Plan C's going to demolish you AND your Meister at the same time._

**Plan C!**

"BLACKMAIL!"

"Blackmail, Soul? What pictures do we have of the new kids?"

"We don't need to have pictures of them." I pulled out two files. "But it helps."

Black Star and I pulled some hentai pictures out of magazines, pasting database pictures of Haru and Tenichi on the picture. Then we photocopied it, ready to put it in the newspaper. Black Star and I laughed darkly; this was going to be a blockbuster.

After we put the picture in the newspaper and handed it out, Black Star and I laughed as soon as we handed one to Maka. I was totally confident that we had won this time. Maka suddenly slapped me, a large blush on her cheeks.

"What was that for?!" I asked, outraged. Then she thrust the picture in my face. My eyebrow twitched; it was a picture of Maka! I turned to Black Star snarling.

"Oh, that was MAKA'S picture!" Black star said after examining the picture for a few minutes.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" I yelled, chasing after him.

_STOP OUTSMARTING US, HARU!_

**Plan…E **_**(Screw that, Time for Plan E! The Ultimate plan!)**_

It was lunch, and Black Star and I had stalked Haru and Tenichi into the voyeur. The two were eating peacefully under a large shady tree. It was a nice place to eat lunch. It was also a bad place to crash it, too. Black Star jumped on the table, knocking Haru's lunch into his lap. His eyebrows furrowed as he glared up at Black Star. Black Star laughed haughtily, folding his arms across his chest. He pointed a stiff finger at Haru's face as Haru bit at it.

"You may have outsmarted us in wits and trickery, but when it comes to fighting, we SHALL be victorious! Muahahahaha!"

"Eh, he's right. I bet you can't face us like a man." I said, walking to the left side of Haru. He looked from me to Black Star, growling.

"What a couple of brats…what's your beef with me?" He asked calmly. That pissed me right the hell off.

"You just ripped on us this morning; talking to us like you're so above us!" Black Star said, beating me to the punch. "I'M the glorious one at Shibusen, the ONLY one surpassing GOD!"

"And I'm the only cool guy here. There's not enough room for two cool guys."

"…Fine." Haru said. "Can you, like…LEAVE yet?"

Black Star and I looked stunned. "Wh-what did you just say?" Black Star muttered after a long silence.

"I SAID fine. I don't want to be the coolest or the most glorious; I want to be in sync with my meister and become a Death Scythe. Can you PLEASE leave now?"

"…Then all of my glorious schemes were for nothing?"

"Exactly." Haru's eyes narrowed playfully. "THOSE SLICES OF CRAP WEREN'T GLORIOUS; A CHILD COULD LOOK PAST THEM!"

"You little—" I stepped forward.

"One tip for you when doing photocopy. Try and make sure the picture isn't smiling at the camera. Nobody's head twists like that!"

"Apparently, yours does."

Haru laughed as Black Star and I laughed along with him. I guess he wasn't such a douche bag after all. Then he had to go say one bullshit thing that made us rivals.

"You aren't cool anyway."

_DAMN YOU, HARU!!_


End file.
